Local News in Brief : Countywide : Peace Officer Status Denied Park Rangers
County park rangers lost their bid this week to regain their status as law enforcement officers.
Superior Court Commissioner Ronald L. Bauer, presiding over a hearing Thursday in the County Courthouse in Santa Ana, ruled that county park rangers should not be designated as law officers because the county defines their duties primarily as helping and educating the public.
The union representing the county’s more than 50 rangers said Friday that it will appeal the decision. The Orange County Employees Assn. filed suit seeking reinstatement as law officers after the county stripped rangers of that status in 1986. The rangers had been designated law officers without gun-carrying privileges in 1984.
Bauer said Friday that he based his decision on state statutes which say that a county ranger can be designated a law enforcement officer if his primary duty is protection of property and people.
In Orange County, however, Bauer said, the rangers are instructed to call the sheriff or local police for emergencies.
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